Amendment to START treaty squashed in Senate

By and01171 on December 19, 2010 10:51 PM

By Jared Anderson

Republicans in Congress tried to attach an amendment to a nuclear reduction treaty with Russia, but the amendment was swiftly stopped by Senate Democrats.
The treaty calls for mutual arms reductions for both the U.S. and Russia. The amendment would have changed language in the preamble, and the change would have required the treaty to go back to the bargaining table with Russia.Fox News reported on the situation, noting that Democrats must now try to convince Republicans to join them in voting for the treaty, while Republicans are unhappy that the amendment was blocked.
Ultimately, the amendment was a fairly minor change in language. Its purpose, seemingly, was mainly to send the treaty back to Russia, buying Republicans some time to gain more votes opposing it when the winners of the midterm elections take office next year.
Republicans were also upset that the process was being moved along too fast, according to Fox.The Washington Examiner took a much more frank tone in its coverage, saying that Democrats "rescued" the treaty from a "treaty-killing amendment." Although the amendment does seem to be designed to kill, or at least delay, the treaty, this strong language seems a bit out of place in a news story, and gives the appearance of a bias.